大馬英文星報的報導

Saturday, January 01, 2005
Tey does four marathons in four weeks
By Y.P. SIVAM
 

JOURNALIST Tey Eng Tiong's passion for running has seen him running four marathons in three countries in four weeks.

The 35-year-old Tey, a feature writer with the Sin Chew daily, took part in one marathon in Thailand and Singapore and two marathons in Taiwan. 

Tey completed the Thai Health Marathon on Nov 28 in 4'52:39. The following week, he did 5'15:15 for the Standard Chartered International Marathon in Singapore. 

At the invitation of the Yung Ho Running Club, he headed for a 13-day stint in Taiwan where he took part in two marathons – the Tsengwan Reservoir International Marathon on Dec 12 and the ING-Taipei International Marathon on Dec 19.

Tey clocked 4'58:53 for the Tsengwan Reservoir International Marathon. 

Incredibly, Tey accomplished his personal best of 4'13:21 in the ING-Taipei International Marathon - his fourth consecutive marathon in four weeks. Before that, his previous best was 4'25:37 recorded in the 2003 Penang Bridge Run. 

Tey's feat is certainly commendable. Generally, it takes about three months for a person to recover from one marathon. Tey's feats have shattered this belief.

Tey said he simply loved running and had no desire to seek glory or incentive. 

“For me, completing the race within the qualifying time is my biggest satisfaction. I like to collect the finishers' medal. The marathons gives me an opportunity to meet new friends. In fact, members from the Yung Ho Running Club took good care of me when I was in Taiwan.

“I feel happy indeed to achieve a new personal best. It was a surprise. It could be due to the excellent weather conditions. In Singapore, it was extremely hot and I was struggling to complete the race,” said Tey after a training session at Jalan Utara recently.

Running has been a daily activity for Tey since his school days at SRJK (C) Labis and SMK Jalan Muar. He represented his school in the sprints and cross-country. After moving to the Klang Valley, Tey started concentrating on road races. His first road race was the PJ Half Mararthon in 1994.

His first marathon was the 1994 Kuala Lumpur International Marathon (KLIM). He completed it in 5'00.32. So far, he has taken part in 17 marathons.

However, Tey does not have any coach. Due to his hectic work schedule, Tey has no specific training programme. He jogs 10 to 20km three days a week. During weekends, he joins the Pacesetters Athletics Club Malaysia (PACM) for long runs at Tasik Perdana.

“I read a lot of books on running and surf the web for tips on running. But being with the PACM has contributed to my progress in running,” said Tey.

Besides running, Tey is also active in photography and takes the opportunity to snap photographs of the runs he has taken part. While he was in Taiwan, Tey distributed pamphlets on the AMBank KLIM 2005 on March 6.

“I took along the entry forms and distributed them to the runners in Taiwan. The Yung Ho Running Club have decided to come with a group of about 30 for the KLIM,'' said Tey.

TEY ENG TIONG'S FOUR MARATHONS IN FOUR WEEKS

Nov 28: Thai Health Marathon, Bangkok - 4'52:39 

Dec 5: Standard Chartered International Marathon, Singapore - 5'15:15 

Dec 12: Tsengwan Reservoir International Marathon, Taipeh - 4'58:53

Dec 19: ING-Taipei International Marathon, Taipei - 4'13:19

以下是小弟從星報的原稿翻譯成中文版本：

記者鄭永忠對跑步的熱情，令他在四週內出征三個國家四個馬拉松。

今年三十五歲的鄭永忠，在星洲日報就職專題記者，分別參加泰國和新加坡一個馬拉松以及台灣兩個馬拉松。

鄭永忠在二零零四年十一月二十八日參加的曼谷馬拉松以四小時五十二分三十九秒完走全程，接著在十二月五日的新加坡馬拉松以五小時 十五分十秒跑完全程。

在永和慢跑的盛意拳拳邀請下，他展開十三天的台灣二馬之旅，首個是十二月十二日曾文水庫馬拉松以及十二月十九日ING台北馬拉松 。

令人吃驚的是鄭永忠竟然在四連馬的第四個馬拉松創下個人最佳成績四小時十三分十九秒（腕錶時間是四小時十三分二十一秒），他之前 的個人最佳成績是四小時二十五分三十七秒，是在二零零三年檳城大橋競跑馬拉松所創下。

鄭永忠的成績是令人讚許不已，因為一般上的看法是跑一個全程馬拉松，需要三個月時才能調整過來，鄭永忠的表現，已推翻這個看法。

他表示，他跑步是非常單純的，並沒有任何追求榮譽或獎金的慾望，就是那麼喜歡跑步。

“對我而言，能夠在限時內完走全程馬拉松，就已是一項滿足感，我喜歡收集完走獎牌，馬拉松讓我有機會結交新朋友。而永和慢跑朋友 就在台灣非常照顧我。”

“我對創下個人最佳成績感到非常高興，這是預料不到的成績，或許多虧台北的涼 爽氣候。在新加坡，氣候非常悶熱，我感到困難。”

鄭永忠是在最近於北路草場一項練跑後接受訪問時，發表上述的談話。

自從柔佛拉美士華小和麻坡路中學開始，鄭永忠就非常投入跑步活動，有代表學校參加縣級運動會。而在一九八八年移居吉隆坡後，鄭永 忠就只參加路跑賽。首個路跑賽是在一九九四年八打靈再也半馬拉松。

永忠的首個馬拉松是在一九九四年吉隆坡馬拉松，以五小時零分三十二秒完成，迄今為止，他已參加十七個馬拉松。

無法如何，鄭永忠並沒有任何教練訓練，由於工作繁忙，鄭永忠也沒有特定的訓練計劃，他大約三日就會跑十公里至二十公里。而在週末 ，就會參加Pacesetters的週日團練。

“我閱讀不少跑步的書籍，同時也常上網搜尋馬拉松的知識，但是覺得加入Pacesetters獲益最大。”

除了跑步，鄭永忠也時常在所參加的馬拉松賽中攜帶相機拍照，而在台灣二馬之旅，鄭永忠也大力推銷二零零五年三月六日的吉隆坡國際 馬拉松，派發所帶去的冊子。

“永和慢跑也肯定將會組團前來參加吉隆坡馬拉松，估計有三十名參賽者。”

鄭永忠的四週四連馬：

十一月二十八日：曼谷馬拉松 ─── 四小時五十二分三十九秒

十二月五日：新加坡馬拉松 ─── 五小時十五分十五秒

十二月十二日：第二十一屆曾文水庫馬拉松 ──── 四小時五十八分五十三秒

十二月十九日：ING台北馬拉松四小時十三分十九秒

永忠兄的跑馬歷練, 獲致馬來西亞媒體的重視而與予大篇幅的報導. 實質意義在提倡和推廣跑步的風氣, 值得馬國人民的響應.

跑馬無難事, 就怕無心人.

我以永忠兄之友為榮.

Run happy.